I have talked to John several times, believe me he doesn’t hunt the wind he picks a tree and hunts it no matter the wind direction. When I hear people say, “play the wind” I chuckle a little. The wind plays you! I hear all the time, “I can’t hunt that spot because the wind is wrong” and really how many of you can honestly say that when you’re in a spot the wind never shifts and know exactly where the deer will be coming from. With 30 years of archery hunting that’s NEVER been the case for me. Also it’s funny that most guys will say, “I only play the wind” but also use some form of scent control on top of that. I’ve never heard someone say I strictly play the wind and don’t use anything else. Someone please tell me that they never use scent free soap on their body or hunting clothes during hunting season and just, “plays the wind” and has killed multiple high pressured big mature bucks. If people say you can’t beat a deers nose then why bother with anything that will help eliminate your scent. I’ve said earlier in this thread that everyone uses some form of scent control it’s just what lengths you will go to help reduce it. I’ve learned what to do so I can just pick a tree and hunt it. Been winded just like everyone else but I am confident enough with my scent regimen to just pick a tree and hunt it when I want and that is way nicer than waiting for the right wind.
I'm going to have to disagree with a lot of this. Not about the John E part as I don't know him.
The Hunting Public go on multi-day camping/hunting trips and they complain about being ripe. You see them get up and just go hunt. No offense to them, but they look dirty and stinky; and they slay public land bucks like no other.
Also, doing some easy scent control stuff (like I do) is just barely practicing it (according to those serious about it), but it obviously can help in marginal cases and reduce the overall size and intensity of the scent cone. I only do stuff where it isn't a pain and it just replaces something else I'm going to do anyways (I'm going to shower, so I use hunter soap, etc). Saying "why do anything if you don't think it works really well?" (edit: or "why do anything if you aren't going to go full bore and get a scent lok suit and get neked on the side of the road in the cold?") to me is like saying "why do you lock your door if someone can just break the window?" Because it slightly helps my odds and is easy to do.
The wind does switch, but there are dominant wind conditions and it usually deviates around that most of the day (in some areas, more later). You have to pick a spot with a dominant wind direction that works for what you think the deer are doing. It is also highly terrain specific. I hunt the mountains, so I know a lot about swirling winds. Certain set ups, the wind is more stable. For instance, if you are in a large valley and the wind is flowing parallel to it, on a ridge and the wind is flowing parallel to it, or you are on a plateau or other large flat spot that is preferably higher elevation. Certain armpit of the hill areas, forget it (the wind direction there is such a balance of opposing forces that different ones keep winning and if you could watch it it would be like a random psychedelic screensaver). But big deer often survive there just for that reason. Also, certain days are more likely to have swirling winds. You can look at hourly forecasts and pick out patterns and know days when the wind is going to be less steady. The biggest indicator for me is if wind speed is changing up and down during the day's prediction, they are basically telling you "expect gusty and erratic winds". The best are medium wind speeds (5 ish MPH) where the wind prediction is from the same direction and at the same speed all day, and it was like that the previous day and is expected to be like that the day after also.
On the other hand, I find the "can't beat a deer's nose so I'm not going to try and won't even do easy stuff" to be too far also. Unless price is an issue, why not buy 1 thing of hunter detergent and 1 thing of body wash and use it instead of other soaps and then keep your clothes in plastic bags or somehow away from household smells. And then be semi-careful (like don't go pump gas and eat in Bob Evans and have dogs jump on you right before you go hunt near a buck bed in marginal winds). If it might give me a 10% help and only costs $30 over a season and a few hours of my time, then I'm all about it.